Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL - Rank 039
"The Evolving Number!!" is the thirty-ninth chapter of the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL'' manga. This chapter was first printed in Japanese in the 4/2014 issue of V Jump, released on February 21, 2014, and in English in the 02/24/2014 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. Summary Shark gasps in pain as the point of Kyoji Yagumo's monster's sword pierces his chest and he wonders what just happened. He remembers that a few minutes ago, he'd ended his turn with "Bahamut Shark" and "Number 47: Nightmare Shark", ready to have "Bahamut Shark" attack directly on the next turn. Yagumo mocks Shark, calling him scary and he observes that Shark was always good at playing the bad guy, though it won't work now. Yagumo declares his turn and he draws. He claims that it's time to make the show truly enjoyable for their audience and he activates the Field Spell Card "Soul Arena". Ghostly specters surround both Duels, and Yuma Tsukumo asks what is going on. Astral tells Yuma to look at the audience, who begin to chant "Kill him! Show us blood!" Yagumo tells Shark that they had better satisfy the fans and he Summons "Tristan, Knight of the Underworld", then Special Summons "Isolde, Belle of the Underworld" from his hand since he controls "Tristan", which activates the effect of "Tristan" to increase its ATK by 300, to 2100 since Yagumo controls a Zombie-Type monster. Then Yagumo activates the effect of "Isolde"; twice per turn it can change the Level of any Zombie-Type monster to a value between 4 and 8. He changes the Levels of both "Tristan" and "Isolde" to 8, and then he overlays them; their energy forms taking the shape of specters. Yagumo chants "Souls wandering between life and death! Visit your dark grudge upon this land! Xyz Summon! Show yourself! Number 23, Rank 8! Lancelot, Ghost Knight of the Underworld!" The card forms from a blank "Number" and "Lancelot" appears with 2000 ATK. Shark is surprised at the relatively low value, and he asks if Yagumo made the "Number's" ATK low on purpose. Yagumo warns Shark not to underestimate him, claiming that the power of the "Number" is increased by giving it low ATK. "Lancelot" attacks Shark directly, much to his surprise, reducing his LP to 2000. The memories end as the remains of Shark's monsters explode. Shark asks what happened to "Bahamut Shark" and "Nightmare Shark", and Yagumo explains that "Lancelot" can attack his opponent directly; if it does so, he destroys any monsters Shark controls with equal or less ATK than twice that of "Lancelot": 4000 or less. "Lancelot" can also use an Overlay Unit to negate a card Yagumo's opponent activates, and he claims that it's easy to surpass Shark now. Shark wonders if "Lancelot" is a "Number" that infinitely evolves. In Dr. Faker's lab, Luna is torn away from the screen by Tokunosuke. She protests that this isn't the time, but Tokunosuke claims that rather than his backside, his knees gave out in shock. Luna asks why as she joins Tetsuo, but she raises a hand to her mouth in shock to see Faker's corpse seated on his throne. Meanwhile, Orbital 7 has just woken up from a dream involving Kaito, but he panics when he remembers that Yagumo took Kaito. He quickly begins searching for Kaito's signal in their lab, and he finds him Dueling Yuma controlling "Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon". Orbital immediately takes off to their location in his glider mode. At the top of Heartland Tower, Kotori, Takashi, Cathy and Cologne have all reached Haruto's room, only to be greeted by the sight of the room exposed to open air - there's no "there" up there. Cologne pulls Takashi's hair and blames the poor class rep for not noticing that the top of the tower was gone. Cathy states that it looks destroyed, and Kotori wonders where Haruto went. They see something coming towards them, and it crashes into the tower, leaving a smoldering crater. Orbital groans that his circuits still need work, and Cologne cries that it's Kaito's little sea monkey. Orbital angrily asks who she's calling a sea anemone, but Kotori breaks them up, asking if Orbital knows where Haruto is, and explaining that Haruto is being held hostage, so Kaito and Yuma have to Duel. Orbital salutes and vows that he will do everything that he can to assist them. Luna has just explained to Astral, Yuma and Shark that Dr. Faker is dead. Yuma asks Kaito if he knew, and Kaito simply states that with Faker dead, there's no way to heal Haruto. Yagumo agrees and he claims that he made a promise with Kaito to allow him to see the real Haruto. He explains that Haruto's soul is trapped in the Astral World, and declares that this world will soon end and transition to a new stage with the Astral World; then Kaito can see Haruto's soul in the real world. Astral ponders the statement and Yuma asks Kaito if he really believes Yagumo; he's just using him and Haruto, while he and Astral are the ones who are really on Kaito's side; they're his friends. Kaito repeats the statement, and Yuma clarifies that they Dueled one another and ate together, and Kaito even saved Kotori; if that's not friendship, what is? He tells Kaito to wake up, and Kaito asks Yuma how an inferior Duelist can call himself his friend. He snaps at Yuma not to make him laugh and he tells him to prove it in this Duel. Yuma says Kaito's name and Astral agrees that Kaito is a friend, but a rival first and foremost. To win his trust, they must show sufficient proof. Yuma agrees, and he tells Kaito that he'll give him a Duel that makes them admit that they're friends. He declares his turn and draws, Summoning "Gagaga Magician", and Special Summoning "Kagetokage" since he controls a Level 4 monster. He overlays his two Level 4 monsters to Xyz Summon and he chants, "Come forth, warrior of love and hope! Utopia!" He tells Kaito that he's gonna jet. At Shark and Yagumo's Duel, Yagumo declares that he has the invincible "Lancelot" on his field, while Shark's field is empty. Shark will have to win on his next turn or lose. Shark gets up and he asks Yagumo to tell him one thing; what made him fall this far? Yagumo hesitates, but then he agrees that he does want Shark to know what happened to him. Shark grins that this should be good, and he asks if it was hell. Yagumo's hand shakes and he admits that indeed it was. Shark's face loses his grin as Yagumo claims that his little brother died by his own hand. Featured Duels Yuma Tsukumo vs. Kaito Tenjo Duel continues from the previous Rank. Turn 4: Yuma Yuma Normal Summons "Gagaga Magician" (1500/1000). He then Special Summons "Kagetokage" (1000/1500) from his hand with its own effect. Yuma overlays his two Level 4 monsters to Xyz Summon "No. 39: Utopia" (2500/2000) in Attack Position. Duel continues in the next Rank. Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro vs. Kyoji Yagumo Duel continues from the previous Rank. Turn 2: Kyoji Kyoji activates "Soul Arena". He Normal Summons "Tristan, Knight of the Underworld" (1800/0). He then Special Summons "Isolde, Belle of the Underworld" (1000/0) from his hand as he controls "Tristan". "Tristan" gains 300 ATK for each other Zombie-Type monster on the field ("Tristan" 1800 → 2100). Kyoji then activates the effect of "Isolde" twice, changing the Levels of "Tristan" and "Isolde" to 8. He overlays his two Level 8 monsters to Xyz Summon "Number 23: Lancelot, Ghost Knight of the Underworld" (2000/1500) in Attack Position. Kyoji attacks Shark directly with "Lancelot" (Shark 4000 → 2000), and activates its effect to destroy Shark's "Bahamut Shark" and "No. 47: Nightmare Shark", as they have less ATK than twice the ATK of "Lancelot". Duel continues in Rank 42. Featured cards The following cards appeared in this chapter. Cards in italics debuted here. Trivia *The trio of cards used by Kyoji in this chapter are all based on historical/legendary characters placed in the second circle of cell in Dante's Inferno.